Ruffling attachment for sewing-machines



(No Model.)

J. S. BAKER.

RUFPLHTG ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES. No. 249,571. Patented NOV.15,1881. 1

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JOHNS. BAKER, 0F HYDE PARK, MASSACHUSETTS.

RUFFLING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 249,571, dated November15, 1881,

Application filed October f2, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN S. BAKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hyde Park, in the county of Norfolk and State ofMassachusetts,have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinRuffling-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention,

' such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon whichform a part of this specification.

This invention relates to means for gathering cloth into'ruffiingsimultaneously with and by the same act that stitches the stayband tothe material to confine the ruffling, my invention being intended mainlyfor the manufacture of thin cloth garments in which the ruftlin g thatornaments the margins of the neck, arms, and legs of garments is of onepiece of material with the body of the garment, as distinguished fromthe method often or generally employed of forming the ruffle of anindependent piece stitched to the garment.

Icarry out my invention by the aid of the twin sewing machine, socalled, in which,

duplicate needle bars and needles, presser-feet, feed, and shuttles areemployed to simultaneously lay two parallel rows of stitches; and myinvention consists in the employment, in combination with such amachine, of a device, hereinafter described, for guiding the stay bandand exerting drag or tension upon it, in order that the feed or passageof this'band through the machine may be retarded, thereby permitting thefeed to full or gather the cloth beneath the band without recourse toruffling devices as ordinarily understood, the feeds of the machine inmy invention exerting the double function of gathering the cloth priorto the laying of the stitches by the needles and of feeding the entirematerial through the machine, substantially as explained.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figures 1 and2, vertical sections of a sewingmachine containingmy invention. Fig. 3is a representation of the ruf fling and stay-bands, as carried out inmy in vention.

In these drawings, A represents a twin sewing-machine, so called, thebed or table of such machine being shown at A, the head of thegoose-neck at B, the presser-foot bar and foot at G O, the needle-barsat E E, and needles at F F, and the feed bars at G G, such componentparts being constructed and arranged as usual with this class ofmachines.

In carrying my invention into practice Isecure to the front side of thehead B of the machine a device for guiding the stay-band as it travelsthrough the machine above and in con cert with the cloth, and forexerting a tension or drag upon such band,in order that thecloth shallbe fed at a greater rate of speed than such band. In the presentinstance I have shown a flat tube, a, of a width and depth adapted toeasily receive and guide the band, and I have combined with this guide-tube, which is cut away or left open on one side at c, an elastic plateor flat spring, 11, operating to exert its consequently of the frictionholdback, upon the band being governed by a clamp=screw, e, which screwsthrough the adjacent part of the tube and upon the spring plate b. l

The operation of my invention is as follows: A piece-of thin clot-h-forinstance, a childs garment-cut from white cambric, is introduced to thesewing=machine, and one end of the stay-band,from a spool suitablysituated, is conducted through the guide a and placed upon the top ofthe cloth and beneath the p resserfeet in'such manner that as the sewingproceeds the needles lay parallel rows of stitches in opposite edges ofthe band. The friction or tension upon the band in passing through theguide holds back such band in a manner and to an extent to permit thecloth, by the action of the feed-plates, to accumulate in front of theneedles and be gathered into small ridges or folds, which constitute oneclass of ruffling, a

these gathers, as they reach theneedlesbeing stitched to the band.

It will thus be seen that by providing a sewing-machine with a guide forthe band which contains a means of exerting friction upon such band I amenabled to ruffle the cloth and stitch the band to it at one operationwithout special 1 attachments other than the guide. If this guidepresents no obstacle to the ordinary use of the machine, it may be apermanent fixture of the latter, although, as my invention is intended2. The combination of adjustingscrew e, guideway a, cut away or-leftopenat a, spring I), and the feeding, pressing, and sewing devices of asewing-machine, said spring and screw being attached to said guideway,and 20 said screw being arranged and adapted to regulate the pressure ofsaid spring on the ruffleband, substantially as and for the purpose setforth. r In testimony whereofl afiix my signature in 25 presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN S. BAKER. Witnesses:

WM. T. ANDREWS, F. G. SIMPsoN.

